Expert: Skeeter - 4/17/2008

Question
who would you say started rock n roll?
who would you say was the best guitarist?
who would you say was the best drummer?
who would you say was the best lead singer?
who would you say was the best keyboard layer?
who would you say was the most infleuncial person in rock?
who improved it the most?
who is the most legendary person in music?


Answer
 There is no individual who started rock n roll, because it has so many influences.   Hank Williams influenced rock n roll, so did Stephen Foster.   If not for Les Paul rock music would have been far different, his experimentations with multitrack recording created much of the technology used to record rock music
 Rock music is a combination of country and the blues with some folk influence.

 Best guitarist?   There is no best.   Probably the most technically capable guitarist was Chet Atkins.  
  I think probably the most amazing guitarists alive are Alvin Lee, Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac and Steve Morse of the Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple, and Kansas.  
 Of all the rock guitar albums released I would say my favorite and the very best of them all is Ten Years After Recorded Live.  Alvin Lee is not only probably the  fastest and most stylish of rock guitar players, he is also the best blues guitarist to ever be.  And he did it with just a guitar and an amp, no effects devices.   
  I think the most technically skilled drummers are Carl Palmer, Kenny Arnoff, Garry Peterson, and Neil Pert.
  But the drummers I most enjoy listening to or watching footage of are John Bohnam,  Keith Moon,   Jerry Shirley, Jon Barbata, and Jerry Edmonton.

 Hands down I think the best rock n roll singer to ever live was Steve Marriot.   Harry Nilsson is also fantastic.   Paul Rodgers is also great,  I am looking forward to hear the album Queen is working on with him on vocals.  
 Keyboards is Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson.  


 Most influential in rock I think is probably Les Paul both for his studio innovations and his guitar design.   He is also an amazing guitarist, and at 90 years old is STILL doing gigs.    

   I can't really say who has improved the most, because so many great musicians were unbelievably talented their entire careers.   

  The most legendary guy in music is probably Beethoven.